The 2026 Tournament of Art part 2

 One weekend done, two more to go.  When some people fill out their brackets, they always pick by seeds, higher over lower.   This is also sometimes known as 'chalk'.  Most of the time I pick the higher seeds, as the reason they are higher seeds is that they are the better team.  Sometimes I will pick upsets, a lower seed beating a higher seed in my opinion.  In these cases, I truly believe the lower team has the best shot to win the game.  Sometimes these upset picks work out, and sometimes they don't.  Of course, sometimes the higher seed from a power conference doesn't win, and this happened a lot this year.   It's probably what makes the process of filling out a bracket and watching the games fun.  Just picking chalk is not so much fun. 

This all works out good and bad for my art schools.  For example, Villanova as an 8 seed lost its first round game to #9 Utah State.  (8/9 games really can go either way, and this year all the #9's won their games)  On the other hand, a school of interest that I had, VCU, rose above their 11 seed to beat powerhouse North Carolina (a #6) from the ACC, a conference that often gets more bids than it deserves.  Northern Iowa, from my old home conference of the Missouri Valley and one of my art schools was given a #12 seed and had the bad luck to draw St John's, a #5 with a chip on its shoulder for getting what it (and I as well) consider a relatively low seed for a team that won the Big East, both for the season and its conference tournament.  Not surprisingly, St John's dominated the game and won its next to get into the Sweet 16.

So what that leaves me with is Illinois, which beat VCU in the second game. also achieving the Sweet 16.  It was at Illinois that I had my first showing of the whole Fourth of July series, in 1994 I think.  So two of my art schools are gone, as well as my school of interest, leaving me just one of my art schools for the second weekend.  I don't expect them to survive those games, but you never know.  That is part of the fun of the tournament.  Whatever happens, I'll be back her next week to report it. 

St. Joseph's Day, 2026

Today is St. Joseph's Day, one of the few holidays we celebrate at Studio Arrabbiata.  St. Joseph is the patron saint of Italy, much like St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, except our celebration is a bit less drunken, and mostly about eating delicious pastries, like the one seen above- a zeppole filled with cannoli cream (I've also seen custard and whipped cream).  You see, St. Joseph is also the patron saint of dessert bakers, as well as woodworkers and many other things.  As a woodcutter who is also Italian, St. Joseph seems the way to go.

My mother volunteered to buy pastries today, and she did, bringing this one back from a place in town this morning.  It's a good thing, too, as my car wouldn't start today.  (it worked yesterday, and the day before) A check today verified that it's not just the battery, so work on it will have to wait until next week.  Good thing I brought the block home with me a few days ago.  Whatever drawing it needs will be finished over the weekend, and if all goes well, I'll have my car working again next week and begin the cutting.

Boardwalk Bar part 6

 Not a whole lot of changes since last time.  I updated a few faces and bodies.  Added some bottles to the area under the counter of the bar.  Made smaller holes in the chain link fence at the far back.  What I was doing mostly was darkening with pencil all the areas that are as of now, black (things can change).  This is part of deciding if the value is balanced or not. I will also be coloring this print, and colors all have some value and can be used to balance the print values.  My original photos were all taken at night, so the rooms tend to be dark.  This print will take place during the day, so there will be more light and more color than the original photos.  All part of the fun.  Results from today can be seen below:

I think I'm about done with the drawing phase, so I plan to start cutting it soon.  What remains is some things in the deep background, and I may make some more changes there before I cut that section.  I'll start with the margins/borders first, and those are all decided.  As I cut, I'll have to decide what gets cut and what is left alone, to become black.  But like I said, I'll figure it as I go.

For music today, two more label produced Beatles albums from the alphabetical section of my box from storage.  Not something that I had in the Studio previously, though I could have fit them both on a single blank disc.  What I brought with me was With the Beatles and A Hard Day's Night.  As with all official discs, these are based on the original British albums, but that doesn't bother me.  With the Beatles was the first Beatles album I owned, probably one of the first records I had.  I had it on vinyl, a gift from my cousin Todd, who I believe had gotten it from a girl he had dated, so it was a regift.  Maybe he was trying to forget the girl. or maybe it just duplicated songs he had on Meet the Beatles and The Beatles Second Album, two popular record albums created for the American market, and widely available in those days.  Of note, the copy I had of With the Beatles was a German import, with lots of text printed on it that I still don't understand.  (I know some art German, such as the word for woodcut is "holzschnitt" and the American Flagg comic book character Titania Weiss got her name from the German words for the paint color Titanium White)  That does mean that it has the intro to the song "All My Loving" only found in German pressings of the song.  As for A Hard Day's Night, its history is even stranger.  The British release was the Beatles' third album, with 7 songs from the film and 6 more for the second side of the record.  In America, the soundtrack was put out by United Artists (who had their own record label) with the 7 songs from the film and the rest of the album taken up by George Martin instrumentals from the film.  Capitol Records owned the Beatles rights in America, and put most of the same songs on the Something New album and issued the rest of the songs as singles, and scattered across such American record albums as The Beatles Second Album, Beatles '65, and the 1970 release Hey Jude.  No wonder the compact discs just follow the original British releases.  Of course, very good music to work by.

The 2026 Tournament of Art part 1

 Earlier this evening we had the tournament announcement show, where all the participating schools in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament are announced.  It is my tradition to post here how many of the participating schools are also colleges I have an art connection to.  That would be schools I have exhibited at, been published by, have taught at, appeared as an artist, or been collected by.  There are always a few, some years more than others.

This year, there are three colleges that are in the tournament and are schools that are among my art schools, and one school of interest.  The three that are legitimate art schools for me are Northern Iowa (12 seed out of the East), where I had an exhibition and at least one publication (maybe a second, but I never saw it), Villanova (8 seed out of the West), where I had an exhibition, and Illinois (3 seed out of the South), where I had an exhibition.  All of these occurred before I had this blog, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  The college of interest is VCU (11 seed out of the South), which I never attended, though everyone I met at William and Mary who learned I was an art major thought I should have gone there.  I did learn a few years ago that not only is VCU still considered the top art school in Virginia, but also it was originally founded as a branch of William and Mary (which I did attend) and remained part of it until spun off to be its own school.  But I have no connections since it became its own place.

How many of these posts I will make depends on how many games these schools win.  If all lose in the first two rounds (the first four day weekend of the tournament), I'll be back here once to report it.  If any make it to the second weekend, you'll get at least 3 posts.  Of all the schools, Illinois is seeded the highest, and thus has the best chance to make out of the first weekend, but there are all kinds of surprises in the tournament, so you never know.

Boardwalk Bar part 5

 More drawings of people today.   I got up to the Studio in late morning, and found parking in the main lot in front.  Made my way to my space, cleared off the table, and got to work.  Since last time I have added several more people around the bar, modified a bunch that I had already started drawing, and fixed a few lines.  Also put in the clips that hold the fabric roof to the chain link fence in the deep background.  Slowly but surely, this is coming together.  Results of today's work can be seen below:

Although I do still plan to do a little more around the bar, right now my biggest concern is the space to the far right side of the block.  Nothing here yet, though there will eventually have to be.  I think I need to look at the original photograph again, see what was there in reality, as it may affect what I put there.

For music I went back to the alphabetical discs of my storage box.  Back when I had my rock/pop book in the Studio, I had a three page section (6 discs) devoted to the Beatles, which was a bunch of home burned copies I kept there, made from all the label produced discs I owned, including some of the first discs I ever bought.  One of the discs I burned was copies of two mid-period Beatles albums, Rubber Soul and Revolver, which both fit on one disc.  Some would consider them their two best albums.  I guess Molly thought so, because she ended up taking that disc, calling it a favorite of her daughters.  Back then blank discs were relatively cheap and easy to find, so I made another copy.  Unfortunately, that one also disappeared.  Probably Molly again (who else has access and cared about the albums)  This time I didn't replace it, just leaving that slot in my book empty. Then I moved and never set up my stereo system and the disc recorder, and then all the record stores and sections disappeared, and then I had my first hospital stay.  The rock/pop book came home so I had things to listen to, without a copy of my homemade Beatles disc.  Thanks to the internet and many devoted fans, I had access to all this music, but that was only at home.  However, today I was able to bring my two label produced discs with me and enjoy them in the Studio.  Excellent music to work by.

Boardwalk Bar part 4

 Today I was back in the Studio, working on my latest boardwalk block.  I actually did a little drawing at home over the weekend, but today I did some more.  This was all time devoted to figures, which will make up much of the composition.  On the left side panel (right side of the print) I have the band, a whole lot of dancers, and some people at the bar.  Some of the band and dancers are based on photos I took of such things years ago, while some are just drawings I did myself.  Some of these were first done a while ago, but I have since gone back and redrawn some of these faces and bodies.  I am by no means close to done with all the drawing of these figures, but I like what I have so far.  Results of where I am at today can be seen below:

Meanwhile, the right panel of the block (left side of the print) has the bar, and a bunch of patrons.  Some of these were drawn previously, though I have since gone back and made changes to all of them.  As with the other panel, there is a lot more to go, with figures to be added and changed.  The bartender is partly based on a 1 minute figure drawing from the group I was attending last year, but modified a little (clothing added) and changes to make her look a little more like a model I used to draw in Belmar a lot (and occasionally at this Studio) who said she had done some bartending at one of her many side jobs.  Results of this panel can be seen below:

I took a break from drawing to stop by the office and talk to Jeanne.  I learned a little more about this show next month.  Nothing is firm yet (no one else has yet responded) so she doesn't know yet how many framed works she will need.  At least two, so maybe I will go ahead and frame the two vertical Robert Johnson prints I pulled a few moths ago for this purpose.  Since they will go into frames that are currently holding earlier Johnson prints, no new mats need to be cut.  Jeanne says she will soon be in touch with news of how many prints she needs, and when they will be needed.  

For music today, I continued with my alphabetical discs from my storage box, bringing with me the Band's album Music From Big Pink.  This official label produced album includes the original album, plus 9 bonus tracks- outtakes and alternates from the original sessions.  The original album has a few of the Band's most famous songs, as well as other tunes from this era that fit well with the well known tunes.  Not too exciting, but as always, good music to work to.

The Old Website

 Yesterday I did something I haven't done since last summer- looked at the e-mail on my website e-mail.  I always had an e-mail account connected to my website (same domain) but last summer everything disappeared.  The company I was with folded into another company, and I was in the hospital, not in shape to do anything about it.  When I finally got out of the hospital, everything had changed.  What's more, I couldn't even remember the address of my old e-mail page, much less the password for it.  The website itself was just gone.

I put off doing anything about it for a while, but I do keep getting these e-mails from my new host, talking about checking to see if my accounts are still valid or when they will expire, but I have no way of finding out what happened by replying.  I learned recently that we have been offered a show at the Jersey Shore Arts Center, but the e-mail that Jeanne had for me was this mail I had no way of accessing.  For now I told her I was interested in being part of it, but I decided maybe I should deal with it.

So I got on the phone with my new host yesterday.  First, I found out that my accounts renew in June, so I am okay there for now.  Then I got transferred to a tech person to deal with that e-mail.  After a lot of back and forth, I was given temporary access to it.   The last time I was there was probably last May or June, and quite a few e-mails had popped up in the meantime.  Most I ignored, as I could, but a few I answered, things written to me personally, ranging from a few months ago, to last year.  I also wrote down a lot of addresses on paper, in case my access disappears again, so I can get in touch with some of these people from another site.  For example, I found some communication with a couple that had expressed an interest last year in buying a few old saints I have the blocks for, if not the actual prints.  (they came to my Studio and saw the blocks) There was no particular hurry at the time, but based on e-mails sent, it looked like they wanted to buy two, and she requested two in particular.  I verified that I have the blocks, but I never got around to printing them.  What with the hospital stay and all that, I forgot all this.  (this communication was last spring/summer)  One of the prints is post-grad, and I have a small photo of it in a show I had in Iowa, so I can probably figure out the colors.  The other is from the original bunch done in Carbondale, and if I have a copy of the original, it's in storage.  I might be able to remember it, but I may have to call this a new edition.  In any case, I will need more ink and watercolors, so this won't happen any time soon.  My first step is to contact my collectors and see if they still even want the prints.  

As for my status with this new company, they were supposed to send something to a working e-mail that would allow me to choose a new password for this other e-mail account and I will be able to access it more regularly.  If that doesn't work, I'll be back on the phone with them soon.  Then I will deal with my website, but that's a problem for another day.

Boardwalk Bar part 3

 Lots of parking in the main lot today, so I was able to get a spot.  Dropped my stuff off at the Studio, then tried my luck at the office.  No one there.  OK, so time for work instead.  After clearing my table I got back to work on my current block.  My plan for today was to do some more work on the figures in this piece, and that I did.  Some were better drawn, and I roughed in a few new ones, dancers and bar patrons, plus a bartender behind the bar.  Not done yet, but a little further along.  I also put in some silhouettes of palm trees on the roof of the building, simple shapes.  My thinking is that these are cast shadows of palm trees on the stretched roof and will be carved as such.  (I had already decided to switch this from the original night scene to a day scene, which matches more with the summer season that sees the main use of boardwalks, and days are much longer in the summer.  People tend to show up at boardwalk bars during daylight hours. As for the palm trees, in the past, every year, large palm trees were planted around the building at the Point Pleasant boardwalk that included Martell's (a seafood restaurant mostly) and the Tiki Bar.  (I tend to think that it was the Tiki Bar that wanted the palm trees)  They came from somewhere down south, where such things grow, and lasted the summer, but I guess died during the cold New Jersey winter, to be replaced with new living trees the following summer.  The tree shapes are also something else for the brayer to hit in those big empty spaces in the ceiling.  Results of today's drawing can be seen below:

At the end of my session, I cleaned up, put stuff back on the table, and tried the office again.  This time it was full of people, so I was able to apologize for being so upset the other day and doubting there was a keypad in the back.  Jeanne said that the apology wasn't necessary, but I thought it was, and she seemed happy to get it.  She also mentioned a possible tenant show in April but said no one had replied yet.  I told her in my case I no longer had access to that email, but was working on that, and meanwhile I could probably show something, my limit being the number of frames I can find.  I'll give more information here when I know it.

As far as music, once again I turned to my storage box and took one of my home burned specials.  This one included a full album from Sam Blue called Delta.  I think I found it in the blues section of a record store in Carbondale.  Not a great album, but one that is pretty good, with a few songs that I used to play on my radio show.  In fact, my guess is that I put it on disc to give me more options should I ever get back on the air again.  Since this left a lot of room on the disc, I filled it up with more vinyl from radio days, things that had been left in my blues section, but weren't really blues and wouldn't get much airplay on my blues radio show, and so I was advised to either just take them home or throw them away.  I chose to take them home.  So this disc also has 5 songs from Standing in the Shadows by RedDog, which is southern rock, but no blues, and 4 songs from a self titled album by the Snakes, which is mostly a rock album, though it does contain a cover of a blues song called 'Aberdeen ' (I know a version from Bukka White) that I did play on the air sometimes.  As with everything else I bring, good music to work to.

Boardwalk Bar part 2

I got up to the Studio building in the late morning, light rain falling.  Unfortunately, not a single spot available in the front parking lot, even both handicapped spots were full.  So I had to go to the back lot.  However, all the doors were locked in the back, so I had to walk around the building.  I complained in the office, and was told there is a keypad in the back, though I've never seen it.  Oh well, onto my space.

My plan for today was to work on the live band on the left side of the block.  As with other figures on the block, this is partly based on a photograph.  I remembered that we had posted photos of the live band playing at the Beaux Eau Ball held by the Belmar Arts Council back in 2008.  This event was held at D'Jais, a bar across the street from the Belmar beach (and boardwalk), so I decided it's close enough to the water to count as a boardwalk bar.  I know of the band photos because I took them and posted them to the blog, so as far as I'm concerned, it's my reference.  However, it did come with a problem. My bar interior space is copied directly from photos I took, but I know it will be reversed when I print the block.  As a result, the interior space will be changed to something new.  My photos of the band I can't copy directly, as it shows a few right handed guitarists, and in mirror image they would become left handed guitarists.  Such things do exist (Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain are good examples) but they are rare in the world.  Having two lefty guitarists in my bar band would be strange, and the kind of thing that people might notice.  I had drawn these figures from my photos in my sketchbook, and brought that with me today, but I had to draw from a mirror to get them left handed on the block, so that they will be right handed in the eventual print.  By the time I had finished today, I had put in some loose figures of the band and some dancers, plus used a ruler to fix some of the lines throughout the whole composition.  I started roughing in a few of the figures around the bar as well, but these will need a lot more work.  

All of the boardwalk prints are two panels diptychs, a common occurrence in traditional Japanese woodcuts.  As such, they are all designed to work as pairs, but each print is a composition in itself.  In this case, the band, dancers, and one of the televisions are part of the left panel, while the rest of the bar, some of the patrons, another television, and the heater are part of the right panel.  At least as it stands now- everything is subject to change before I start cutting.  Results of today's drawing can be seen below:

For music today I brought a cassette (a big part of my Carbondale studio, as I only had a radio/tape player there), in this case with live John Lennon on both sides.  Seemed to fit along with my plan to draw band members today.  Lennon never did any touring, but he occasionally played shows to benefit a cause, and these albums are from those.  On one side of the tape, his Live in New York City album, recored backed by Elephant's Memory (who also backed his then recent album) and a benefit for the Willowbrook school, performed in 1972 and released as a record in the 80's.  I had it on vinyl.  Mostly songs from his early solo career, though one Beatles song is included.  The other side of this cassette is Lennon's Live Peace in Toronto, 1969, done with the Plastic Ono Band, which in this case included Eric Clapton, Klaus Voorman, Alan White, plus Yoko doing her thing.  This comes from a very old cassette I bought in a record store, the tape in what might be called a large matchbox.  The first side of that album is Lennon and friends performing, mostly oldies as the whole band never played before and this is what they all knew.  One Beatles song, something Lennon and Clapton had performed for the Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus film the year before.  (at the time, Lennon was still a member of the Beatles) The second side of the album is caterwauling from Yoko- if you know her material, you know what this is like.   I'm not a fan, so I shut off the tape, cleaned up, and went home.  On my way out I checked the back door.  At first I didn't see any keypad by any of the back doors, but eventually I found a small one buried in the right side door jamb of the double doors in the back.  I tested it and it worked.  Good to know for the future.